Page 1: Intro, About Honeywell CE, Packaging, Specs, Package Contents

Since its introduction a few years ago, Bluetooth has gone from a niche idea to a part of the everyday lives of many. No where is this more apparent than the strong market of Bluetooth headsets for cellular phones and computers. Today, ASE Labs has one such product from Honeywell CE in the Airlite 740.

Honeywell has been a major international supplier of various goods since 1906, and Soyo Group is a respected consumer electronics company that has been around since 1987. Together they formed a joint venture of Honeywell CE, a fully owned subsidiary of Soyo Group licenced by Honeywell. Through the Honeywell CE brand, Soyo Group is able to market its products to a wider audience.

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The Honeywell Trademark is used under license from Honeywell International Inc. by SOYO Inc. The Honeywell Consumer Electronics line is designed using only the most cutting-edge technology delivering long-lasting, quality products. Although we at SOYO are strongly focused on our products, our primary goal is to develop a lifelong relationship with each of our customers by providing excellent reliability and customer support through a variety of accessible brands.

The device packaging lists the various abilities. Of note were the six hour battery time, the Digital Sound Processing technology and full Bluetooth V2.0 + EDR compatibility. It also mentions that it is compatible with cell phones, laptops and PDAs.
The rear of the box shows pictures of everything to be found inside (also written out on both sides of the box). This includes the headset itself, the ear hook (which is usable in both ears as well as removable), the AC adapter and the USB cable, as well as the five different ear caps.

Upon opening the package, you are greeted with a nicely designed three-piece plastic sheath. Everything inside is well protected, and the package itself was conscientiously designed so that it could be both easily opened and put back together without problems, in case you want to keep the packaging.

Laptop/computer connectivity isn’t explicitly mentioned in the official specs as it is on the front of the box, so it will be tested to determine how closely the Airlite 740 follows the Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR standard.

The package includes everything seen on the outside of the box, including a manual for everything. There is one thing of note, however: As it is shown on the box, the USB cable also included for charging the headset is shown as being just as long as the AC Adapter. However, in reality, the AC adapter is about 4 feet long and the USB cable is only 6 inches long. That being said, this may not matter to you in practice (more on that later); and the cable itself is simply a standard 8-pin USB converter, something commonly used for digital cameras.

The multiple ear caps themselves are a nice touch that would be nice to be seen in all similar devices. Everyone has different ears, and it is nice to not have to compromise with a one-size-fits-all design. Neither the packaging nor the manual mention why there are different caps for both indoors and outdoors, leading me to assume that there are differences in how well they prevent sound leakage.

Something to keep in mind: The Airlite 740 does not come charged, and the manual specifies a 2-3 hour charge time; so know that you cannot use the product right out of the box.